Meat slitting machine



July 10, 1945. .1. P. SPANG MEAT-SLITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 6, 1942 J'osepiz/ l? 8.22%,

M 34 43am 7 Oct. 17; 1944.-

Patented July 10, 1945 invention; relatesto-machi-nes; for; slitting fora :-purpos,es. oft; illustration. and shown in the fneahandr consists ine noyeL-f-eed roltassociated accompanying'drawing in whicm 1' with a plurality of. knives for producing a series lEigplis arplanisectional-view of aifeed roll oi sl ina piece: ot'meatw The presentiapplicaiand cutters constructed according: to, the invention is, a: continuation ine-part of: myi copending tion, I 1 1 :1 application: Ser. No=.= 413,944,; filed 0ctober 7,*l9,4l ,1;Fig=' 2 ,isian end view iof. the driving gearsifor which has issued as -Patentt No 2;,360-1128, dated the feedroll andncutters, t 1v r Figa 31 18 an enlarged-- fragmentarysectional The, primary obiecttof mm'vtetton is a atview-taken on line a; --a-ot= Figt; 1- andshowing v 'Vigg means? l' n i a p ecer 'ofrsmeat pasta 0 the slitting operation-,andwt series of kniyes without i-mpairingx th =surm e Fig-.4 isfa'n'endview of, the feed roll;

of the-, nreat which is not;"directedztowardcrthe -As shown in the drawing the feed roll of my knives I v, i l invention-- comprises a hollow cylindrical shell turther object of theinvention is: to provide fl ppo ted' at-its ends'r by sp k elements anjmpmved feedrollfor: a-; meat'slittingfi' machine having" openings l3, therethroughand supporting bymeans-ofz-which-meat canjb f'edbetweenthe the? shell on-anaxia1ly-located shaft He The roll andtthe knives awhile! thekmvesfarerotated Shafts.may-conveniently-be held in bearings in taster thanvthez feed roll; without tearing *or supporting plates/l6 and l8 -of-';the frame as impairing-the surface of-"th'e meat -norr-tdirected shownjn Fig; 1 1 The hollow shell- IB' is protowardttheknivefiand improyedtmeans fonstrip vided wi-thlqgreatnumber of sm'alt perforations I 20: which extendentirely through the thickness ping themeat: from the-r011 'andt-knive v -.It ha h 1 1 conventionahpraetie' topro- I o'f the shell intoythe hollow interior thereof and 'vide means ;for -'impali-ng one. surfacei-qfsaqpiece are; located both along-"and around the cylinder of rneat while-th-egothersurfaceofthe pi i as: illustrated inFigulw .Adjacent to: the feed lo p erated upon bykcutting t m ts t-iS very 'roll 'is: a shaft-30, held ineecentric' bearings 32 often-des rable o iF- -ve ?tithe"meat eri-t'has and' ik parallel" with and 'adjacent to' the feed been-once cut and then put; itagain throughttherol'l H): I The" shaft '30 -htts a plurality, oi disk machineso that: the; hithertofuncutj surface is tt rs W n y m iap r pri e operated upon by the kniveabut, during the-secdriving mechanism; asr-tlfevge'arsfll and 38; the

d limm tm ,t kniy sgar apt to encuttersf36' are" caused" tonrotate faster than the counter the: perforations madfl whenixthe meat feed? roll l-O'ariditWill belurider'stood that adraw I I a d-the recut'j'isthereby-obtained:since the'meatto be s'ulthas been tottear or martthe meata trea'ted'i's Held firmlyincontactl with the slower To.overcome the difliculty,just reterredtto I movingxfeedt rolll flz The:gears '13?! and 381cm substitute for the; cor-ryentionaldeeding;disks: a 'be"if1ahy ratip vdesig'nedsto:perforn'rthe slitting smooth surfaced? hollowrollApr'cv-ide-dwithxa operation "most effectively; and I have used a multiplicity of;throughpertoratiomsv; Such-arch th'ree 'tOTOXIGTatiO Verysuccessfull-y;

is placedaiil juxtaposition to a shait -carrying a i 'Ffieslitting' faction of 'the mecha'nism on a i numbermf'dish kniie cuttersvandthe 'piecemf pi'eceofivmeatfla is illustrated i-niFig; 3; As-the meatlto be treate is fed-in betweer-ithefholiow 4:0 means-red ddWnWaTrdly-betweenr'the roll- |o= and roll andlthecutters. 'l'hetsurtaceotthe meat cutters 36*it is-engag'edby"a-plurality'of resilient which lies onthe hollow rollispressed into firm' 7 fingers 40hung' fr6map1ate42 supported on the engagement withitwith thetresultthat; the meat frame (if the"- machine; 'li"he' fln'gersihaveinterj- Wells intotthetperforations in: the-rQ11.-;-'I 1 1eedges mediate 'substantiallystraight portionswhich enrot-theperforationsholdthe meat securelyawi-th- '5 gage the meat and-force it against the rolland outginduratingthe surface;- The -result is-ia, piece intd the outer'portione of the? holes" 20" so'that of meat which hasbeen s1it:,onon ace and it is firmly engaged by the annularv shoulders .pr'esents another unbroken ,face. vIf-this piece formed bythhbles on the; cylindrical surface of isth'ereupon turned overs-and put through the the roll: 1:I'he meat thereupon; moves=-With ;-the

slittingmechanism. again,,thetcutters encounter 0 roll and resists the-tendency ,ofthe cutters to a virgin-surface at said unbroken' iace -j; I accelerateaits rate of. feed-.1 The faster moving Theseand othenobjects and advantages of the cutters; are thereupon-drawn through-the meat invention will be more readily understood and .in a manner slitting it with clean cuts.

appreciated from the following detailed descrip- Cooperating with the roll H) are a plurality tion of a preferredembodiment thereof, selected of -meat stripping elements 44 supported on a It will also be noted that the extreme free endsof the fingers are located in position directly following the closest approach of the cutters to the roll so that the meat is stripped from the roll directly after the slitting thereof is completed.

The free ends of the fingers 411 are'bent outwardly at 50 and these fingers are so positioned relative to the cutters 36 that the meat is stripped from the,.cutters at a position somewhat following the position at which it is stripped from the roll II]. This arrangement permits the cutters somewhat to assist the fingers 44 in stripping the meat from the roll and particularly from the holes 20, and thereafter provides for stripping the meat from the cutters.

After the meat has been slit in the fashion just described, it can be inverted and again fed through the slitting mechanism. The surface of the meat 39 which was in contact with the roll l0 during the previous operation is not broken and the cutters can therefore make clean incisions thereinto.

Although it would be possible to obtain the same function from a roll which is not perforated but merely provided with relatively shallow pits, the problem of cleaning such a roll would be great and I therefore prefer to use the through hole type as shown in the drawing. Where an annular surface with wells therein is brought repeatedly into contact with meat pressed thereagainst, the meat collects in the wells and covers the shoulders which form the meat engaging and holding elements, thereby causing the surface to lose its traction on the meat. This objection is eliminated in my improved machine by forming the wells as through perforations which permit'the meat collecting in the wells to pass inwardly into the chamber within the roll thus keeping the shouldersclean for performing their meat engaging function. Theroll can, be readily cleaned'by flushing it out from end'to end and through the perforations 20. Furthermore, the hole type of roll is much lighter than a solid roll would'be and is easier to manufacture.

The distance between the knives and feed'roll and the depth of cut can be varied by rotating the eccentric bearings 32-34, the bearings being connected by a yoke 52 operated by a handle 54 connected thereto and extending through an arcuate slot 55 in the plate 56. The machine is driven by suitable gearing in mesh with one of the gears 31 or 38. Only slight movement of the shaft 30, not suflicient to disengage the gears 31 and 38, is required for the purpose of regulating the depth of cut. These features are illustrated in detail in my said copending application.

Having now described and illustrated my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a meat treating machine, a pair of relatively adjacent and parallel shafts, a meat feedzone and extending outwardly therefrom substantially tangentially of the cylinder and in the direction of its rotation, and meat engaging elements extending transversely of the shafts between the blades and operative in the direction of the cylinder to press theragainst pices of meat passed between the cylinder and blades.

2. The machine defined in claim 1 in which the cylinder is provided with a plurality of relatively spaced annular grooves therearound within its peripheral surface andbetween said wells and in which the stripping elements are at one side in contact with the-bottom walls of the grooves, the meat stripped from the cylinder being adapted to slide longitudinally on and along the surfaces at the opposite side of the elements.

3. In a meat treating machine, a pair of relatively adjacent and parallel shafts, a tubular meat feeding cylinder on one shaft having meat receiving wells within its peripheral surface, rotary meat treating blades on the other shaft, said wells extendingrentirely through the tubular wall of'the cylinder and the cylinder having a plurality of relatively spaced annular grooves therearound, the peripheries of the'blades and cylinder being relatively adjacent in a zone adapted to receive and treat a piece of meat passing therebetween, means for rotating the shafts in opposite directions and the blades at relatively and substantially faster peripheral speed than the cylinder, meat stripping fingers havingbevelled free ends disposed in said grooves adjacent to said zone and extending outwardly therefrom substantially tangentially of the cylinder in its direction of rotation; and means for holding the meat in contact with the cylinder during its passage through said zone. p,

4. A meat treating machine, comprising a pair of relatively' adjacent and parallel shafts mounted for rotation, a gang of meat treating-disks on and relatively spaced along one shaft, and a meat supportingcylinder on the other shaft in opposed and cooperating relation to the disks, the cylinder being open from end to end and its cylindrical wall having a plurality of perforations therethrough to its interior in spaced relation both longitudinally and circumferentially of the cylinder and forming meat engaging wells and shoulders on the peripheral surface of the cylinder for engaging meat being treated by the disks, the perforations permitting passage into the cylinder of meat scrap collecting in the wells thereby keeping the shoulders cleared for traction engagement with the meat being treated and the through end to end opening in the cylinder permitting the flushing out of said meat scrap from the cylinder, thereby maintaining the meat engaging efilciency of the cylinder and facilitating sanitary operation of the machine.

JOSEPH P. SPANG. 

